Ensure /var/lib/foreman exists for IOP manual override files by jeremylenz · Pull Request #755 · theforeman/foremanctl

jeremylenz · 2026-08-14T20:39:40Z

Why are you introducing these changes? (Problem description, related links)

Investigating SAT-48087, the cvemap/vex "manual override" files used for offline/disconnected installs were hardcoded to /var/lib/foreman/cvemap.xml and /var/lib/foreman/vex-latest.tar.zst, but nothing in foremanctl ever created that directory or guaranteed it existed, so disconnected installs had no reliable way to seed vulnerability data.

(This PR originally relocated the files to /var/lib/foremanctl/iop/; after review discussion it was decided to keep /var/lib/foreman to avoid breaking any existing disconnected-mode users on upgrade, and instead just ensure the directory exists with proper permissions.)

What are the changes introduced in this pull request?

Add a task to each role (iop_cvemap_downloader, iop_vex_downloader) that explicitly creates /var/lib/foreman (root:root, mode 0755) on deploy
Introduce iop_cvemap_downloader_manual_dir / iop_vex_downloader_manual_dir role defaults holding just the directory, with well-known filenames (cvemap.xml, vex-latest.tar.zst) appended where needed, so additional manual-override files can be added later without duplicating the path
Convert the previously static systemd path units (and the vex downloader script) to Jinja templates so they reference these defaults instead of a hardcoded path
Update the iop_cvemap_downloader / iop_vex_downloader feature tests to assert the directory is created
Document the offline/disconnected workflow in docs/iop.md (previously undocumented)

Refs SAT-48087

How to test this pull request

Steps to reproduce:

Deploy a dev VM with the IOP/Satellite flavor enabled
Confirm /var/lib/foreman exists (root:root, mode 0755) after deploy
Manually place a cvemap.xml (or vex-latest.tar.zst) file at /var/lib/foreman/
Confirm the corresponding systemd path unit (iop-cvemap-download.path / iop-vex-download.path) fires and the download/copy service picks up the manual file without a manual restart
Confirm /var/www/html/pub/... is updated with the copied file

Checklist

Tests added/updated (feature tests updated for directory creation; ansible-lint passes for changed files)
Documentation updated (docs/iop.md)
./forge test run against a deployed dev VM to validate the systemd path-watcher behavior end-to-end (not yet run in this environment)

ehelms · 2026-08-18T01:46:57Z

/var/lib/foreman is not a real path in foremanctl's containerized architecture

For awareness, the RPM creates it -- https://github.com/theforeman/foreman-packaging/blob/rpm/develop/packages/foreman/foremanctl/foremanctl.spec#L65 so I think this statement needs qualification of which use case you mean.

If /var/lib/foreman doesn't exist, then how would a sub-directory exist? Putting all of these files under a sub-directory is not a bad idea. I want to ensure we capture the real reasons behind the change.

Per review on theforeman#755: the manual-file variables carried a full file path, which doesn't scale as more well-known files are added under the same directory. Each role now exposes a *_manual_dir variable, and the well-known filename (cvemap.xml, vex-latest.tar.zst) is appended where needed.

jeremylenz · 2026-08-18T15:07:54Z

For awareness, the RPM creates it -- https://github.com/theforeman/foreman-packaging/blob/rpm/develop/packages/foreman/foremanctl/foremanctl.spec#L65 so I think this statement needs qualification of which use case you mean.

The RPM creates /var/lib/foremanctl/ but does not create /var/lib/foreman/, right? I think it's the right move to use foremanctl/ rather than foreman/

jeremylenz · 2026-08-18T15:10:29Z

@vkrizan Addressed your comments as well.

ehelms · 2026-08-18T18:20:15Z

The RPM creates /var/lib/foremanctl/ but does not create /var/lib/foreman/, right? I think it's the right move to use foremanctl/ rather than foreman/

Oh right, keeping it as /var/lib/foreman would help disconnected users that upgrade. I also wonder about using a podman volume to store these files and make the timer a proper container that runs like the others. And then having the gateway mount and serve these files. CC @vkrizan

vkrizan · 2026-08-19T09:08:55Z

I also wonder about using a podman volume to store these files and make the timer a proper container that runs like the others. And then having the gateway mount and serve these files.

@ehelms That is what we are exploring for the content that Insights produces. For frequently updated content, use of containers as volumes isn't ideal, as it requires restarts of the container that serves them, plus there is some maint. costs. We could move the serving of the content from the Apache httpd to IoP Gateway. However, for the cvemap.xml and other frequently updated content I would stick to regular (shared) volumes.

ehelms · 2026-08-19T11:10:42Z

@ehelms That is what we are exploring for the content that Insights produces. For frequently updated content, use of containers as volumes isn't ideal, as it requires restarts of the container that serves them, plus there is some maint. costs. We could move the serving of the content from the Apache httpd to IoP Gateway. However, for the cvemap.xml and other frequently updated content I would stick to regular (shared) volumes.

A podman volume is exactly a shared volume. What am I missing?

vkrizan · 2026-08-19T11:22:47Z

@ehelms Oh, right. I've misread, I thought you've meant container as volume... Yeah, a podman volume could do. Generally, these ideally need to be accessed and managed from a container. Therefore, all operations for the disconnected instances use should have a container run to copy&distribute the content. I think this needs a bit more discussion, as I'm assuming that the processes to update disconnected instances are on the system level done by an sysadmin.

Per review on theforeman#755: the manual-file variables carried a full file path, which doesn't scale as more well-known files are added under the same directory. Each role now exposes a *_manual_dir variable, and the well-known filename (cvemap.xml, vex-latest.tar.zst) is appended where needed.

jeremylenz · 2026-08-20T15:00:49Z

Rebased in hopes that the new CI run will be greener.

jeremylenz · 2026-08-20T16:38:15Z

🍏 🍏

ehelms · 2026-08-20T19:55:29Z

I keep coming back to not being a huge fan of tieing the runtime data to the deployment directory. I think I'd still rather just update the code to ensure /var/lib/foreman exists right now. That also keeps upgrades cleaner. That would simplify your change here as something just needs to ensure that directory exists.

@ehelms Oh, right. I've misread, I thought you've meant container as volume... Yeah, a podman volume could do. Generally, these ideally need to be accessed and managed from a container. Therefore, all operations for the disconnected instances use should have a container run to copy&distribute the content. I think this needs a bit more discussion, as I'm assuming that the processes to update disconnected instances are on the system level done by an sysadmin.

I am going to post to an issue some of my design ideas as I think they are rather large for this PR and distracting it.

jeremylenz · 2026-08-21T14:11:36Z

I keep coming back to not being a huge fan of tieing the runtime data to the deployment directory. I think I'd still rather just update the code to ensure /var/lib/foreman exists right now. That also keeps upgrades cleaner. That would simplify your change here as something just needs to ensure that directory exists.

I don't think /var/lib/foreman is a logical place to put these files in the new architecture. It kinda implies that it's a functional directory and somehow related to the foreman container when it's not actually. /var/lib/foremanctl fits much better IMO.

(also, we already tie runtime data to the deployment directory - for example, auth-bundle tarballs are provided by the user and then placed by src/roles/certificates/tasks/main.yml in /var/lib/foremanctl/certs.)

However, your concern about upgrades is valid. How about something like this:

Keep /var/lib/foremanctl/iop as the watched location
Add a one-time migration task that copies the file from the old location (if it exists) to the new one
Don't copy again if the new location already has a file
Persistent deprecation warning if the old file still exists, warning that the old path is no longer watched
Migration task and warning could be dropped some time in the future

thoughts?

ehelms · 2026-08-22T12:44:39Z

(also, we already tie runtime data to the deployment directory - for example, auth-bundle tarballs are provided by the user and then placed by src/roles/certificates/tasks/main.yml in /var/lib/foremanctl/certs.)

This isn't runtime data -- it's deployment data tied to foremanctl. So I am still hesitant to tie application runtime data to the deployment data directory.

I don't think /var/lib/foreman is a logical place to put these files in the new architecture. It kinda implies that it's a functional directory and somehow related to the foreman container when it's not actually.

By that logic, the directory should be /var/lib/iop if we want to isolate data based on what it directly relates to. We have previously used /var/lib/foreman to store persistent data related to anything related to foreman. I do think we should also look at serving these from the gateway instead of Apache. I can't recall why we didn't do that the first time.

jeremylenz · 2026-08-24T15:06:08Z

By that logic, the directory should be /var/lib/iop if we want to isolate data based on what it directly relates to. We have previously used /var/lib/foreman to store persistent data related to anything related to foreman. I do think we should also look at serving these from the gateway instead of Apache. I can't recall why we didn't do that the first time.

Since it looks like you feel strongly against the foremanctl location, I feel we can do one of the following for now:

keep /var/lib/foreman and change the PR here as you suggested, to simply ensure it exists
use /var/lib/iop

And later, we can decide to serve that from a container, which I agree is the best long-term solution.

(1), while I still dislike it, would possibly require fewer documentation updates.
(2) seems like a logical place for it and I prefer it slightly over (1), but again, based mostly on feelings.

@ehelms thoughts?

Per review feedback on theforeman#755, keep the manual-override path at /var/lib/foreman rather than /var/lib/foremanctl/iop, to avoid breaking existing disconnected-mode users on upgrade. The directory is now explicitly created (root:root, 0755) so the path is guaranteed to exist, which the prior implementation never ensured. No container reads this directory directly in either dev or prod: only the root-owned host systemd downloader script touches it. The IOP containers only ever see the already-published output file over HTTP, proxied through iop-core-gateway back to host httpd.

Per review on theforeman#755: the manual-file variables carried a full file path, which doesn't scale as more well-known files are added under the same directory. Each role now exposes a *_manual_dir variable, and the well-known filename (cvemap.xml, vex-latest.tar.zst) is appended where needed.

Per review feedback on theforeman#755, keep the manual-override path at /var/lib/foreman rather than /var/lib/foremanctl/iop, to avoid breaking existing disconnected-mode users on upgrade. The directory is now explicitly created (root:root, 0755) so the path is guaranteed to exist, which the prior implementation never ensured. No container reads this directory directly in either dev or prod: only the root-owned host systemd downloader script touches it. The IOP containers only ever see the already-published output file over HTTP, proxied through iop-core-gateway back to host httpd.

jeremylenz · 2026-08-25T14:45:26Z

Okay fiiiiine, for now I've updated this to use /var/lib/foreman/. Currently it creates it with root:root but I am not sure that will be correct for all use cases (I'm thinking rh_cloud inventory reports.)

ehelms · 2026-09-01T00:52:24Z

@jeremylenz can you rebase this?

/var/lib/foreman does not exist in the containerized architecture, so the cvemap/vex disconnected-install override paths were unreachable. Relocate them under /var/lib/foremanctl/iop, define the paths once via new role defaults (iop_cvemap_downloader_manual_file / iop_vex_downloader_manual_file), template the previously static path units and vex downloader script, and create the directory on deploy. Refs SAT-48087 Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Per review on theforeman#755: the manual-file variables carried a full file path, which doesn't scale as more well-known files are added under the same directory. Each role now exposes a *_manual_dir variable, and the well-known filename (cvemap.xml, vex-latest.tar.zst) is appended where needed.

Per review feedback on theforeman#755, keep the manual-override path at /var/lib/foreman rather than /var/lib/foremanctl/iop, to avoid breaking existing disconnected-mode users on upgrade. The directory is now explicitly created (root:root, 0755) so the path is guaranteed to exist, which the prior implementation never ensured. No container reads this directory directly in either dev or prod: only the root-owned host systemd downloader script touches it. The IOP containers only ever see the already-published output file over HTTP, proxied through iop-core-gateway back to host httpd.

coderabbitai · 2026-09-01T13:21:08Z

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

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📒 Files selected for processing (5)

docs/architecture/iop.md
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/tasks/main.yaml
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/tasks/main.yaml
tests/feature/iop/test_cvemap_downloader.py
tests/feature/iop/test_vex_downloader.py

🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (5)

tests/feature/iop/test_vex_downloader.py
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/tasks/main.yaml
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/tasks/main.yaml
tests/feature/iop/test_cvemap_downloader.py
docs/architecture/iop.md

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The IOP CVE map and VEX downloader roles now support configurable manual directories. Their scripts and systemd path units use templated paths, the directories are created during deployment, documentation describes the defaults, and feature tests verify ownership and permissions.

Changes

IOP manual directory configuration

Layer / File(s)	Summary
CVE map manual directory flow `src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/...`, `tests/feature/iop/test_cvemap_downloader.py`, `docs/architecture/iop.md`	The role adds `iop_cvemap_downloader_manual_dir` with default `/var/lib/foreman`. It creates the directory as `root:root` with mode `0755`. The offline file path and systemd watcher use the variable. Documentation describes the default and both uses. The feature test verifies the directory properties.
VEX manual directory flow `src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/...`, `tests/feature/iop/test_vex_downloader.py`, `docs/architecture/iop.md`	The role adds `iop_vex_downloader_manual_dir` with default `/var/lib/foreman`. It creates the directory as `root:root` with mode `0755`. The offline archive path and systemd watcher use the variable. Documentation describes the default and both uses. The feature test verifies the directory properties.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 0499d

This change ensures the existing manual override directory is created with the expected ownership and permissions while preserving the established file locations; no actionable merge-blocking risk remains after normal checks and review.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 5 functions across 2 files. (3 skipped: 3 …	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the primary change: ensuring /var/lib/foreman exists for IOP manual override files.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description directly explains the problem, implementation, tests, documentation updates, compatibility decision, and remaining end-to-end test gap.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 5 functions across 2 files. (3 skipped: 3 unsupported.)

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Inline comments:
In `@docs/architecture/iop.md`:
- Line 225: The documentation around the CVE and VEX downloader paths must state
that /var/lib/foreman is only the default directory. Update the references near
the manual file consumption and watcher behavior to clarify that
iop_cvemap_downloader_manual_dir and iop_vex_downloader_manual_dir each control
both the file location and the systemd-watched directory.

In `@src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/tasks/main.yaml`:
- Line 6: Update the retained directory task using mode 0755 to explicitly set
owner root and group root, ensuring existing directories with non-root ownership
are corrected while preserving the current directory behavior.

Apply the same fix in `@src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/tasks/main.yaml` around lines
3 - 6: The same ownership invariant and remediation apply to the VEX
manual-input directory.

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docs/architecture/iop.md
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/defaults/main.yaml
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/files/iop-cvemap-download.path
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/tasks/main.yaml
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/templates/iop-cvemap-download.path.j2
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/templates/iop-cvemap-download.sh.j2
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/defaults/main.yaml
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/files/iop-vex-download.path
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/tasks/main.yaml
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/templates/iop-vex-download.path.j2
src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/templates/iop-vex-downloader.sh.j2
tests/feature/iop/test_cvemap_downloader.py
tests/feature/iop/test_vex_downloader.py

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src/roles/iop_vex_downloader/files/iop-vex-download.path
src/roles/iop_cvemap_downloader/files/iop-cvemap-download.path

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@ehelms

Per CodeRabbit review (agreed by @ehelms): the directory-creation tasks set mode 0755 but not owner/group, so a pre-existing directory with non-root ownership would keep that ownership, letting a non-root local account write files later consumed by the root-run downloader scripts. Add owner/group: root to both tasks, clarify in docs/architecture/iop.md that the manual_dir variables control both the file location and what the systemd path unit watches, and assert ownership/mode in the feature tests.

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jeremylenz force-pushed the iop-manual-file-path branch from fcda3f1 to e137dd8 Compare August 18, 2026 14:59

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ehelms mentioned this pull request Aug 19, 2026

feat(iop): iop_vuln_metadata_downloader role #759

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jeremylenz force-pushed the iop-manual-file-path branch from cb501f8 to a7ccd9a Compare August 20, 2026 14:59

jeremylenz force-pushed the iop-manual-file-path branch from 66cabd7 to 19bc140 Compare August 25, 2026 14:44

jeremylenz changed the title ~~Move IOP manual override files to /var/lib/foremanctl/iop~~ Ensure /var/lib/foreman exists for IOP manual override files Aug 25, 2026

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jeremylenz and others added 3 commits September 1, 2026 09:19

jeremylenz force-pushed the iop-manual-file-path branch from 19bc140 to b2fffcf Compare September 1, 2026 13:20

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ehelms merged commit d1e550b into theforeman:master Sep 2, 2026
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nofaralfasi mentioned this pull request Sep 10, 2026

Bind-mount RH Cloud inventory reports into Foreman and Dynflow #825

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